Staff and Incarcerated Individuals’ Attitudes Toward Men Who Sexually Offend: Implications for Prison Social Climate

Abstract

The attitudes of staff and of males incarcerated for non-sexual offences toward males incarcerated for sexual offences are measured using the Attitudes to Sex Offenders Scale ( Hogue & Harper, 2019). Overall, staff had more favorable attitudes toward males incarcerated for sexual offences than males incarcerated for non-sexual offences did. Results also demonstrated that staff and those incarcerated in the prison that does not segregate males incarcerated for sexual offences from the mainstream population had more favorable attitudes toward males incarcerated for sexual offences than staff and those incarcerated in the prison that segregates males incarcerated for sexual offences. Implications for prison administrators in creating rehabilitative prison social climates are discussed.